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Bank of America on ID theft alert after computer tapes go missing

28 February 2005

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Bank of America is monitoring 1.2 million government cardholder accounts for suspicious activity after computer tapes containing charge card account information were lost during shipment to a backup data centre.

The West coast bank says it has been working with Federal law enforcement officals to investigate the disappearance of the tapes, which went awol during an air transit in December. The investigation has yet to unearth any evidence that the tapes or their contents have been misused.

The bank is assuming that the missing data has been lost, rather than stolen.

Barbara Desoer, global technology, service & fulfillment executive for Bank of America, issued a statement expressing the bank's regret at the incident: "The privacy of customer information receives the highest priority at Bank of America, and we take our responsibilities for safeguarding it very seriously."

The bank says that accounts included on the data tapes will continue to be monitored for unusual transaction activity and that cardholders will not be liable for any unauthorised transactions.